Apparatus for selectively perforating a web and printing therefrom



United States Patent Inventors Emilio Falchero;

Duilio Grandi, Milano, Italy Appl. No. 656,846 Filed July 28, 1967 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Assignee Olivetti-General Electric S.P.A.

Caluso Turin, Italy a corporation of Italy Priority July 29, 1966 Italy APPARATUS FOR SELECTIVELY PERFORATING A WEB AND PRINTING THEREFROM 8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

u.s.c|. 101 121, 101/401.1, 101/426, 101/111;346/74;

1111.01 B411 08; B41jl/20 FieldofSearch 101/114,

122,124,121,406,401.1,401.5 Electrode Digest, 93; 234/55, 44, 100, 58, 41 346/74 Primary Examiner-William B. Penn Attorneys-George V. Eltgroth and Joseph B. Forman ABSTRACT: A non impact printing device, whereby an intermediate print support is perforated by electrical discharges to reproduce the characters and marks to be printed, and the printing is subsequently transferred to an ultimate print support by inking means to colour the ultimate print support in correspondence with the perforations of the intermediate print support.

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Sheet DEFGH In venJors This invention relates to a nonimpact printing device controlled by electrical signals.

Many prior art schemes which provide for the printing of characters and the recording of marks, without requiring mechanical impact, are known: for instance electromechanical, electrothermic or electroplastic methods and photographic processes, or, more generally, processes employing photosensitive, electrosensitive paper, etc.

Generally these prior art processes are based on the use of papers specially prepared for the particular purpose, which therefore are very expensive; furthermore such processes do not provide for the immediate and simultaneous printing of many copies ofthe same text.

Other prior art methods have been proposed that provide for the use of intermediate printing supports, wherein the image to be printed is recorded as a latent image by xerographic or thermoplastic processes. This latent image is transferred subsequently to the ultimate print support, which may be a nontreated paper. In these prior art schemes the latent images, recorded on the intermediate print support, may be subject to alteration, either by the passage of time or by externalagents, so that there is no absolute certainty that the text recorded on the ultimate print support is identical to the received text.

Furthermore the received text can be read only after it has been transferred to said ultimate print support, and not im mediately after reception.

The purpose of the present invention is to obviate said disadvantages by means of simple and inexpensive apparatus.

In this invention the characters andthe marks to be printed are permanently recorded in the form of perforations electrically created on a very thin ribbon or sheet, the characters and marks so stored being immediately readable. From the ribbon or sheet, images of the stored characters or marks may be transferred any required number oftimes to the ultimate print support which may advantageously be nontreated paper.

This printing is effected by pressing the perforated ribbon or sheet against the paper with an inking roll or pad, thus colouring the paper at the positions corresponding to the holes in the ribbon 'or sheet that determine the shape of the character or the mark to be printed.

Since the sheet or ribbon is very inexpensive and occupies very little space, it may be indefinitely retained as an authentic copy ofthe original record.

This retention quality is very important in many circumstances, for instance in the recording of messages relating to the Air Traffic Safety Service. Furthermore, the invention provides for changing at will, within certain limits, the number of copies obtainable. without substantial modification of the apparatus, said change being obtained simply by modifying the succession ofthe operations required for writing.

These and other characteristics of the invention, will be apparent from the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a schematic illustration of the electrical perforating device ofthe invention,

FIG. 2 illustrates an alphabetic character obtained by electrical perforation according the present invention,

FIG. 2a is a perspective view of another form of the perforating head of the invention,

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another form of the inking roller control device ofFIG. 3,

FIG. 5 illustrates the printing of several copies,

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the perforation assembly of the embodiment ofFIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another form of the perforation assembly of the embodiment of FIG. 6,

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of another form of the inking and printing assembly of the embodiment of FIG. 6.

With reference to FIG. 1, the ribbon I, made of a suitable very thin material, for instance a lO-micron thick mylar film, is unwound from the spool 2, by the pulling action of the two friction rollers 3, 4. Ribbon 1 moves at constant speed through a perforating head, denoted generally by the reference nu metal 10, which comprises substantially two insulating blocks 5 and-6, a plurality of electrodes 7 and an equal number of counterelectrodes (not shown) arranged in a plane approximately perpendicular to the direction of the ribbon motion.

Electrodes 7 are connected to the terminals 70, 7b and the counterelectrodes are connected to terminals 8a, 8b..../ The number of electrodes and counterelectrodes depends on the desired quality of printing.

Satisfactory performance is obtained where each character is created by the selective printing of points arranged in a matrix ofseven rows and five columns.

In this instance the electrodes and seven counterelectrodes are provided as represented in FIG. I, one electrode and counterelectrode for each row of the character matrix.

The counterelectrodes may be replaced by a single counterelectrode consisting in a bar connected to a common return wire. The roller 3 is driven by a motor means, not shown, and rotates at a constant speed in the clockwise direction. The roller 4 is pressed against the roller 3 by a spring, not shown in the FIG.

The pressure exerted by the roller 4 on the ribbon, combined with the friction due to winding the ribbon on the roller 3 for an arc of about prevents any slipping of the ribbon relative to the surface of roller 3.

If necessary to prevent slipping of the ribbon the rollers 3 and 4 may be wholly or partially knurled or may be made of suitable materials having a high friction coefficient, such as rubber, neoprene, vulcolan and the like.

While the ribbon I is advancing continuously through the head 10, a voltage is selectively applied between some of the electrodes and the corresponding counterelectrodes so as to obtain a series of sparks that perforate the mylar ribbon in the points interposed between the energized electrodes and the corresponding counterelectrodes.

In this manner a succession of vertically arranged columns ofholes is obtained, these successive columns of holes delineating the character to be reproduced.

For instance, with reference to FIG. 2, if the letter E is to be reproduced, the perforating voltage will be applied, first, simultaneously between all seven electrodes'and corresponding counterelectrodes, thus providing perforation of the first column of the letter.

Next, after a time interval during which the ribbon is advanced a distance D, the voltage will be applied between the electrodes 7a, 7d, and 73 and the corresponding counterelectrodes.

After another equal time interval, the voltage will be applied again between the same electrodes and counterelectrodes. After the next like time interval the voltage will be applied between the electrodes 7a and 73 and corresponding counterelectrodes.

Finally, after a fourth equal time interval, the voltage is ap plied again between the electrodes 7a, 7g, and the corresponding counterelectrodes, thereby achieving a distribution of holes which reproduces the letter E.

The perforating voltages are applied in form of very short pulses, employing devices and methods well known to these skilled in the art. Therefore, the perforation is achieved so rapidly that during the perforating timethe'advancement of the mylar ribbon is negligible.

Instead of simultaneously energizing all electrodes which generate a column, the perforating voltages may be applied sequentially and selectively to the individual electrodes, proceeding, for instance, from the upper to the lower ones.

In this case, the perforating head is disposed such that the plane containing the electrodes is slightly tilted in reference to the direction of motion of the ribbon, as indicated by the dotted lines inFlG. 2.

Either of the schemes described or any'other well known method for producing marks and characters by the selective perforation of the holes of a matrix may be used in the embodiment of the invention. With reference to FIG. 3 the ribbon 1 is unwound from the spool 2 and pulled through the perforatinghead 100 by the primary pulling rollers 3 and 4. in succession, the ribbon is partially wound around a fixed roller 9, an oscillating roller 10, and two fixed rollers 11 and i2 I passes between the pair of secondary pulling rollers 13 and 14,

and is wound up on the take up spool 15.

The rollers 13 and 14 are made in the same way as the primary pulling rollers 3 and 4 so as to prevent any slipping or relative motion between'ribbon 1 and the surface of roller 13.

Between the pair of rollers 3, 4 and the fixed roller 9, the ribbon 1 contacts a plate element 16, whose front surface is preferably white, tov facilitate the reading of the perforated text written on the ribbon.

This reading may be facilitated if the ribbon is made of a 1 dark and opaque material, whereby the shape of each letter is revealed by the whitedots corresponding to the holes of the rotate.

The oscillating roller is rotatably mounted on an oscillating arm 17 carried by a pivot 18, which is driven to rotate, in

"thedirection indicated by the arrow, by a coil spring 19.

Therefore the oscillating roller 10 may assume all intermediate positions between an extreme left position, shown by solid lines wherein the roller is indicated by the numeral10, and an extreme right position, shown by dotted lines wherein the roller is indicated by the numeral 10'.

Between the fixed roller 12 and the secondary pulling rollers 13, 14 the ribbonis parallel to a generatrix of the surface of a platen 20, around which a continuous sheet 21 of common untreated paper is partially wound. A device 22, not described herein, but similar to the well known paper feeding devicesused in teleprinters and electrical typewriters, provides, when needed, the vertically advance of sheet 21 by an amount corresponding to a line spacing.

The ribbon 1 in its normal position is spaced but a small distance, about 0.] mm, from the surface of the sheet 21. im-

mediately above and below the ribbon two metallic rectilinear s guides 23 and 24, are disposed, which have respective bends 25 and26 at their left ends. in front of the platen 20, and extending somewhat beyond the ends of the platen, the inking I device is disposed, which comprises a continuous flexible belt 27 wound over the two rollers 28, 29.

The upper and loweredges ofthe driving roller 28 are provided with pins 30 and 31, which engage corresponding perforations-32 of the upper and lower edges of the belt 27, thus insuring the transmission of the motion 'of roller 28 to belt 27.

The belt 27 supports a pair of brackets 33 and 34 equally spaced along the length of the belt. Bracket 33 carries a fixed shaft 35, on which is rotatedly mounted an inking roller 37. Bracket 34 carries a fixed shaft 36, on which is rotatedly mounted an inking roller 38. These inking rollers 37 and 38 are made of felt or other absorbing material adapted to be impregnated with ink.

In each rest position of belt 27 one of the inking rollers rests against an inking pad 39, and the other inking roller occupies the opposite position. In the rest position shown in FIG. 3 inking roller 33 rests against pad 39. Whenever an inking roller rests against pad 39 it closes contact 40.

When the roller 28 drives the belt 27 to move a distance equal to half of its length, the inking rollers against pad 39 will be exchanged.

The primary pulling roller is fastened to the shaft 41 to which the driven member of the electromagnetic clutch 42 is also fastened. The driving member of the clutch 42 is fastened to the shaft 43, which iscontinuously driven in the indicated direction by the motor means M, not shown.

Aworm screw 44 on shaft 41 engages gear wheel 45, which is fastened to the shaft 46, to which the driving member of an electromagnetic clutch 47 is also fastened. The driven member of clutch 47 drives a shaft 48, to which is affixed a cam 49 which is'subject to the countertorque of a helical spring 50.

The cam 49 has a projection 51 which, in the rest position, is held against a stop member 52 and which, when the cam is rotating, can operate to close the contacts 53.

When the clutch42 is energized the primary roller 3 rotates and pulls the ribbon l from spool 2. 1

When the clutch 47 is energized, the rotation ofthe shaft 41 causes the rotation ofworm screw 44, gear 45, and cam 49.

.The gear ratio between worm screw 44 and gear 45 is such that the time required for projection 51 ofthe cam 49 to move from its rest position to the position where it closes contacts 53, is equal to the timerequired for a point of the ribbon l to move from the perforating head 10 to a line 75 corresponding to the right limit of the'printline on the sheetZl, provided that the oscillating roller 10 is in its rightmost position 10'.

The closing of contacts 53 causes the deenergizing of the electromagnetic clutch 47, so that the cam 49, driven by the helical spring 50, returns to its rest position.

The secondary pulling roller 13 is fastened to the shaft 57 to which the driven member of the elecromagnetic clutch 56 is also fastened. The driving member of the clutch 56 is fastened to the eontinuously rotating shaft 55, driven in the indicated directionby the motor means M, not shown.

The worm screw 58 on shaft 57 engages gear 59, which is fastened to the shaft 60, to which the driving member of an electromagnetic clutch 61 is also fastened.

The driven member of this clutch 6] drives a shaft 62, to which is affixed a cam 63 which is subject to the counter torque of a helical spring 64.

The cam 63 has a projection 65 which, in the rest position, is held against a stop'member 66 and which, when the cam is rotating, can operate to close the contacts 67.

When the clutch 56 is energized, its driven member engages with the driving member and the secondary trailing roller 13 rotates and pulls the ribbon 1.

- When the clutch 61 is also energized, the rotation of the shaft 57 causes the rotation of worm screw 58, gear 59, and cam 63. The gear ratio betweenworm screw 58 and gear 59 is such that the time required for projection 65 of the cam 63 to move from its rest position to the position where it closes contacts 67, is equal to the time required for a point of the ribbon 1 to move from the line 75 to a line 54 corresponding to the left margin of the print line of the sheet 21.

The closing of contacts 67 causes the deenergizing of the electromagntic clutch 61, so that the cam 63 returns in its rest position under theaction of the helical spring 64. i

The roller 28, which drives the belt 27, is fastened to a shaft 99 to which the driven member of an electromagnetic clutch 68 is also fastened. The driving member of clutch 68 is fastened to a shaft 69 which is rotated by the motor means M,

not shown.

When the clutch 68 is energized, the rotary motion is transmitted from the driving member to the driven member and the roller 28 rotates in the, indicated direction, causing the belt 27 to move correspondingly.

When belt 27 starts to move the upper and lower tips ofthe shaft 35 become engaged behind the bends 25 and 26 of the two longitudinal guides 23, 24, which guides force the inking roller 37 to press the ribbon 1 against the sheet 21.

The ink contained in the inking roller flows through the perforations of the ribbon, and, consequently, all text perforated on the ribbon l for the length of the print line will be printed on the paper sheet.

During this printing operation clutch 56 is deenergized and the ribbon 1 is stationary.

When the roller 38 reaches pad 39 it closes contacts 40 thereby deenergizing the clutch 68 and halting the belt 27.

The electromagnetic clutches 42, 47, 56, 61, and 68 are controlled by a control circuit 70, to which conductors of the contact 40, 53, and 67 are connected.

The sequence of signals, corresponding to the text to be printed, is received by the input line 71 and decoded in a device, represented by the box 72.

Decoding device 72 generates and distributes the perforating electrical pulses to the perforating head 100 through the wires comprising cable 73 and is connected to the control circuit 70 through the conductor 74.

The apparatus of FIG. 3 operates as will be described hereinafter. It is assumed that the signals corresponding to the text to be printed are continuously arriving from the line 71 at constant rate, corresponding to the operating speed of the apparatus. Initially, it is assumed that all the clutches are deenergized; therefore cams 63 and 49 are in their rest positions, the oscillating roller is in its rightmost position 10' and the inking rollers 37 and 38 are in their respective rest position shown in the drawing.

Motor means M, not shown, rotates continuously at suitable speeds, and in the directions indicated by the arrows opposite the shafts 43, 55, and 69.

When the first input signal arrives from the input line 71, the decoding device-72 generates the perforating voltages for the first column of the first character.

At the same time, a signal is sent through the conductor 74 to the control circuit 70 and initiates a control sequence providing the succession of operations to be described.

The clutches 56, 42, and 47 are first energized, whereby the primary rollers 3, 4 pull the ribbon 1 through the head 100 at constant speed, so that the subsequent input signals cause the perforation of the received text.

At the same time, secondary rollers 13, 14 pull the ribbon 1 at a somewhat higher speed, so that the ribbon loop 76 is reduced and the roller 10 is moved toward the left.

Cam 49 also rotates and the projection 51 approaches the contacts 53.

When the first column perforated by the head 100 has reached the line 75, corresponding to the rightmost margin of the print line of the sheet, the projection 51 closes the contacts 53.- Clutch 47 is thereupon deenergized, and the cam 49 returns to its rest position.

At the same time, clutch 61 is energized and the cam 63 begins to rotate.

When the ribbon 1 has moved so that the first perforated column reaches the line 54, corresponding to the left margin ofthe print line, the projection 65 closes contacts 67.

Clutch 61 is thereupon deenergized, and the cam 63 returns in its rest position. At the same time clutch 56 is deenergized and the secondary rollers 13, 14 stop, thus halting the portion of the ribbon in front of the print line position. However, the primary pulling rollers 3 and 4 continue to rotate, driving the ribbon, and the oscillating roller 10 moves toward right and the ribbon loop 76 increases.

When clutches 56 and 61 are deenergized, the clutch 68 is energized so that the inking roller that was against pad 39 moves along the portion of the ribbon 1 between the longitudinal guides 23 and 24 and causes the transfer to sheet 21 of the characters corresponding to the perforations present on this portion ofthe ribbon.

When the other inking roller reaches pad 39, contacts 40 are closed, thereby deenergizing clutch 68 and halting belt 27.

Clutch 56 is now energized again, so that the rollers 13 and 14 again pull ribbon l and reduce the length ofloop 76.

When the clutch 61 is again energized the rotation of the cam 63 commences again.

Meanwhile, the device 22 slews sheet 21 to provide a line spacing.

When the ribbon has once again advanced a distance corresponding to the'length ofa print line, the cam 63 again controls the closing of contacts 67. The process is repeated and new text lines are printed on the sheet as long as new signals keep arriving on line 71.

A timing device, part ofthe control circuit 70, continuously checks, by known methods, the time intervals between the subsequently received input signals to detect if said intervals become larger than a predetermined time interval, which is greater than the time required by a point ofthe ribbon l to advance from the perforating head 100 to the line 54.

When the time interval following the arrival of the last input signal is larger than said predetermined time interval,-all of the clutches are deenergized and the apparatus returns to the rest condition.

Since the aforementioned predetermined time interval is greater than the time required for the last perforated column to reach line 54, the last input signals received are printed.

ln case of discontinuous. also called start-stop. operation. wherein each input character is preceded by a start signal and the reception of the characters may occur at random intervals of time, the arrival of each character triggers control circuit 70 to energize the clutch 42 for only the time required to advance the ribbon a single character space.

In this type of operation the oscillating arm 17 is provided with two contacts, not showing at the limits of its rotation, so that when the oscillating roller 10 reaches its extreme right position the clutch 56 is energized and the pulling rollers 13 and 14 drive the ribbon until the oscillating roller returns in its extreme left position. The remainder of the start-stop operation is as described before.

For start-stop operation the printing head electrodes may have the form indicated in H0. 2a, that isthey may comprise the complete character matrix. With such head all the points that belong to a single character are perforated simultaneously.

The counterelectrodes for the head of FIG. 2a may also form a matrix or may constitute a single metallic plate.

The electrical contacts 53, 67, and 40 may be replaced by any suitable transducer adapted to generate an electrical signal when a mechanical element, such as the projections 51 and 65 ofthe cams 49, 63, or the bracket 33, reach a predetermined position.

Such suitable transducers may consist of electromagnetic, photoelectric, piezoelectric devices or the like.

Moreover, the electromechanical devices comprising the worm screw and gear 58 and 59 and 44 and 45, and the electromagnetic clutch-cam-contact assemblies 47,49, 53 and 61, 63, 67 may be replaced by other well-known timing devices, which may be part of the control circuit 70. Such timing devices will determine with sufficient precision those time int'ervals which start when the clutches 56,42 are energized, and correspond with sufficient precision to a predetermined number of turns or fraction of turns of the driving shafts 57, 41, so that the operations ofstopping the pulling rollers 13, 14 and activating the inking rollers 37 and 38 will occur exactly in the same manner as heretofore described.

FIG. 4 represents another form of the inking roller control device which enables the printing of any desired number of copies on the same page, without modifying the machine.

On the shaft 62 (FlGS. 3 and 4), which is driven by the worm screw 58 and gear 59 through the clutch 61, cam 63. a second cam 80, and a third cam 82 are mounted. Cams and 82 operate respective contacts 81, 83. If necessary, a number of other cams are fastened to shaft 62, in addition to earns 63, 80, and 82.

The second cam 80 has a projection 84 approximately at the middle point of the are determined by the starting position of projection 65 and the position in which the projection 65 operates the contact 67. v

The third cam 82 has two projections 85 and 86, which divide the aforementioned are into three substantially equal parts.

If needed,a fourth cam, not shown, should have three of said projections dividing said are into four substantially equal tacts 81, and projections 85 and 86 close briefly contact 83.

Therefore, the contact 81 will be closed once, at half the angular displacement of the cam 63, and the contacts 83 will be closed twice, at one-third and two-thirds of said angular displacement.

Contacts 81, 83, and any other additional ones, may be selectively activated, to independently operate under control of the'control circuit 70, to cause the deenergizing of the clutch 56 and the energizing of clutch 68, thus controlling the inking roller motion sequence.

Clutch 61 is d eenergized only when the cam 63 has completed its travel, closing the contacts 67.

The device, employing the apparatus of FIG. 4, operates as follows:

It is assumed that three copies of the received text are to be printed; in this case the contacts 83 are activated in addition to the contacts 67.

At the start ofthe reception ofinput signals the clutches 56, 42, and 47 are energized so that the ribbon 1 is driven through the head 100, as heretofore shown.

When the first perforation of ribbon 1 has reached the line 75 (FIG. 2) the contact 53 is closed, thus causing the energization ofthe clutch 61. Cam 63 then starts to rotate.

When'the first perforation of ribbon 1 has reached the line 92, nearly one-third of the print line from the right margin, the first projection 86 of the cam 82 closes the contacts 83.

This starts the control sequence which stops the rollers 13 and 14 and causes the motion ofthe inking rollers.

One of said inking rollers travels the entire length of guides In its first two-thirds of the travel, the ribbon 1 has not been perforated, and consequently in the first two-thirds of the page width, no printing takes place at this time. On the rightmost third of the page a line portion is printed, whose length is approximately a third of the page width. Subsequently the clutch 69 is deenergized and the inking rollers stop, the clutch 56 is energized and the ribbon 1 starts again to advance. A

At the same time, the paper sheet is driven to achieve a vertical line feed.

When the first perforation of ribbon 1 has reached the line '93, nearly one-third of the page width from the left margin,

the projection 85 closes the contacts 83. This again causes the pulling rollers 13 and 14 to stop, and theinking roller to start 7 again, printinga second line.

A second line portion will be printed on the rightmost third of the page; the first line portion will be repeated on the middle third'of the pageand nothing will appear'on the left third of the page because the corresponding ribbon portion is not perforated.

When the inking rollers terminate their run, the clutch 69 is deenergized, the clutch 56 is energized and the ribbon 1 starts again to advance.

-At the same time a' new sheet is provided. I

When the first perforation of ribbon 1 reaches the line 54 corresponding to the left print margin on the sheet2lfthe cam 63 closes contacts 67, thus deenergizing the clutch 61 and restoring the cams 63, 80, and 82 to their rest positions.

The pulling rollers 13 and 14 also stop and the inking rollers start.

'The first line portion will be repeated athird time on the left third of the sheet, the second line portion will be repeated a second time on the middle third of the sheet, and the third line portion will be written for the first time, on the rightmost third of the sheet. I

FIG. represents the page on which the three copies of the i received text are printed.

The same text appears repeated in three separate columns, each column being shifted down one line interval with respect to the one at its right.

vertical line feeding of the paper- The space between columns may be obtained in several ways, all by providing an interval between the perforation of the ribbon 1. i

This may be achieved by operating on the input signal source to obtain a suitable time interval between the signals of different line-portions, by providing for a faster driving of the ribbon at the end of each line portion or by providing a quick motion of the perforating head in direction opposed to the motion of the ribbon and followed by a relatively slow and even return of the perforating head to its starting position, or by combinations of said techniques.

lt is apparent that the mechanical timing devices which, in the described embodiment, comprise the cams 80, 82 etc, and their respective contacts, may be replaced by other similar devices, for instance electric or electronic devices as part of the control circuit 70.

HO. 6 represents another embodiment of the invention, in which the intermediate support to be perforated comprises a sheet having approximately the same width as the paper sheet on which the received text must be printed.

This sheet 101, made, for instance, of mylar lO-microns thick, unwinds from the roll 102 and curves about a cylinder 103. Next the sheet passes near the surface of the conductive bar 104, which has a height at least equal to the height of the print line, and which is connected to a return wire terminating at the pulse generating device 125. Above this bar is disposed a plate 105, having a height equal to the height ofa number of printing lines.

The sheet 101 passes adjacent to the surface of said plate 105., which is preferably white in color.

Sheet 101 then passes through an inking and printing assembly, which comprises a printing cylinder 106 on which the paper sheet 111, unwinding from the roll 112, is partially wound; an inking cylinder 113, made of absorbing material, and impregnated with ink; a driving cylinder 114, which, in cooperation with printing cylinder 106, causes the mylar sheet 101 and the paper sheet 111 to feed together vertically.

Sheets 101 and 111 are slowed vertically a distance corresponding to a line spacing every time the printing of a line is completed.

The mylar sheet 101 is wound on a take up spool 115, whereas the paper sheet runs over a guide member 116, which guides the sheet to a suitable storing device, not shown.

A perforation assembly comprising a belt 117 is wound on two rollers 118, 119. Roller 118 is driven by a suitable motor means (not shown) through an electromagnetic clutch 120. Belt 117 is positioned opposite the face of the conductive bar 104.

The belt 117 is made of flexible insulating material; such as nylon, mylar, and the like. A portion of the perforation assembly is represented in more detail in F IG. 7. V

The belt carries on its internal surface seven conducting strips 121. Seven metallic brushes 122, supported by a connection head 123 contact said strips.

These seven brushes are connected to seven conductors comprising the cable 124, which terminates at the device 125 (FIG. 6) plus generating device 125 decodes the received input signals and generates'the perforating voltages. The input signals are received from the input line 126.

The device is connected to a controlcircuit 127, which controls the clutch 120, and the device for feeding the sheets 101 and 111,not shown.

Two perforating heads 128, 129 are mounted on and equally spaced along the length of the belt; one of said heads engage in two slide guides, not shown, to maintain the head during its travel at the proper distance from the sheet 101.

When the belt is driven by the roller 118 one of the perforating heads engages the sheet 101, forcing it against the conducting plate 104, which is at ground potential.

At this time, the device 125 sends to selected electrodes high voltage pulses which perforate the sheet 101 to form the character sequence corresponding to the received text. More specifically, the apparatus of FIG. 6 operates as follows:

It is assumed that the received signals are arranged in signal blocks, each block containing the text to be recorded on a line; that the signals comprising the same block are transmitted continuously at normal operating speed; and that the blocks are separated by atime interval sufficient to allow a line feed to be completed.

At the beginning of the reception of a block, the clutch 120 is energized, thus causing the passage ofthe head 129 from the rest position 131 along the width of sheet 101 to perforate a line on said sheet in response to the received signals.

When all the signals ofthe block have been received and a line has been perforated, the head 129 continues its motion until it reaches the rest position 132, which was previously occupied by head 128, and head 128 reaches the rest position 131, previously occupied by the head 129.

When these read positions are reached, the clutch 120 is deenergized and the belt 117 is stopped.

Now, the vertical feeding of the mylar sheet 101 and of the paper sheet 111 is effected by the combined action of the driving cylinder 114 and the printing cylinder 106, which cylinders are rotated through suitable arcs by a line feed device, not shown.

As a consequence of the line-feed action, the perforated line that was previously in position 133, immediately below the inking cylinder 113, passes between said cylinder and cylinder 106 and is pressed against the surface of sheet 111.

In this way the writing corresponding to the perforations of said line is transferred to the paper sheet. Moreover, owing to the vertical line-feed action, the line last perforated is brought into the position immediately above the perforation position and becomes easily readable, because of the white surface of the plate 105 behind the perforated line. The readability of the perforated line is enhanced if the sheet 101 is dark in color and opaque. When the line feed action has terminated, the reception of the signals corresponding to the text to be perforated on the next line commences and the operation is repeated as heretofore described. 1

FIG. 8 shows a form of perforating assembly to'be used in the embodiment of FIG. 6 when the input signals are received in a continuous uninterrupted train.

The belt 144 length is exactly three time the length ofa line. Three perforating heads 140, 141, 142, are mounted on and equally spaced along the length of belt 144.

The belt moves continuously, so that when a perforating head has reached the extreme right of the print line, the next Therefore each line is horizontally perforated on the sheet 101 and when a head initiates the perforation of a new line in the extreme left position of the sheet 101, it is vertically distant from the preceding line by a distance corresponding to a line spacing.

With the embodiment'of the invention shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to obtain several copies using the inking and printing usually shown in FIG. 9. In the assembly of FIG. 9 a plurality of common paper sheets 137 is provided.

A plurality of inking devices, each comprising a printing cylinder 136 and an inking cylinder 135 is provided for each of said sheets 137. The inking and printing cylinders cooperate, as heretofore described, to effect the reproduction of the writing recorded by perforation on the intermediate supporting mean 148 on each of sheets 137.

We claim:

1. A nonimpact printing apparatus for providing, in visible form, the text represented by a received sequence of signals, comprising: a first text recording member, perforating means responsive to said signals for perforating said first member in a pattern of perforations corresponding to the text represented by said signals, a second text recording member, transport means for moving said first and second members into juxtaposition, and inking means for transferring ink through said pattern of perforations in said first member to impinge on said second member, thereby providing inked images on said second member in the form of said patterns.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the text represented by said signals comprises a plurality of discrete characters, and wherein said pattern of perforations is in the form of said plurality of characters.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said perforating means responds to said signals to selectively generate electrical discharges, which discharges perforate said first member in a pattern of perforations corresponding to the text represented by said signals.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first member comprises a length of ribbon, and wherein said pattern of perforations is formed along the length of said ribbon in correspondence with the arrival of said signals.

5, The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said transport means moves said first member in the direction of its longitudinal dimension across said second member.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said transport means terminates relative motion between said first and second members prior to said transfer of ink by said inking means.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 further including an additional member disposed adjacent said first member for enhancing the readability of said pattern of perforations.

8. High-speed printing apparatus for recording the characters represented by a received sequence of signals, comprising: a first text recording member, perforating means responsive to said signals for perforating said first member in a pattern of perforations corresponding to the characters represented by said signals, means for providing relative motion between said perforating means and said first member to provide for said pattern to represent a line of characters, a second text recording member for receiving lines of characters in respective line positions thereon, transport means of moving said first and second members to place said pattern opposite one of said line positions, and inking means for trans ferring ink through said pattern of perforations in said first member to impinge on said second member, thereby providing a line ofinked character images on said second member. 

